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The Question
++ Wheeljack's Workshop ++ Technoversity Outskirts ++ Iacon ++ Welcome to the Jackhammer v1.4! It is a broom closet. No, really. A small room with several maintenance and janitorial equipment stuffed into it. Along with a desk that barely fits and is here for seemingly no good reason. Contents: Wheeljack Exits: O Iacon Oh how the mighty have fallen. Not that Wheeljack was ever mighty but he has fallen. A string of disappointments, public have private, have all lead to this - a small, cramped closet in the boiler room. No joke. His classroom was taken from him and then, recently, the workshop he had built by hand. What he's been left with is a very literal broom closet that has had a desk crammed into it and his name spray painted on the door. Professionally and privately, Wheeljack has accepted his continued demotion without quarrel, and this recent step down is no exception to that. Without a fight he's moved into his new office, though that moving required little effort since he has so little left to move in. Just a humble toolbox with a few scattering of tools that still remain in his possession. He asked Torque to meet him here. Now that they no longer officially work together this is more of a personal request. Maybe he wants to show off his new digs? When Torque does arrive he'll be on the floor, muttering to himself as he crawls around looking for something. "...oh my, no no... not down..." His aft-end is up and pointed towards the door. ..Well then, that's certainly a sight to walk in on. The door to Wheeljack's 'office' slides open and Torque steps in, only to get an opticful of the mech's backside. For a second she can't help but stare, but she quickly slaps herself mentally and shakes her head clear. "Sorry for not knockin'. I figured you wouldn't be too busy. Uh.. Just what are you doing down there, anyway?" Rubbing the back of her head, Torque steps into the room and gingerly moves around him to stand somewhere out of the way. "And ah.. Nice office, by the way. It's certainly.. snug." Her gaze wanders the room while trying to say something positive about the change of space, but it's a bit of a challenge. Poor Wheeljack. How does he keep allowing these mechs to walk all over him? "Looking for something!" Wheeljack answers quickly, not seemingly surprised that Torque is here. He did ask her to stop by after all! Nor is he aware of what he is showing her. (She would want to look?) "Scrap it, I had it a moment ago," he mumbles as he paws around under his desk a bit more before he gives upand stands up. Around his neck and dangling down is a straight, stark black... cord? This 'tie' matches the lenseless, black thick rimmed 'glasses' he is now sporting. If your attention wasn't already drawn to them he pushes the lenses up. "These keep slipping down, either I need a bigger nose or I need to..." He gets an 'ahah!' look. "A strap to hold them in place!" He'll get on that later. Instead he looks around and nods. "Sparkplug's idea. He said all the other offices were already in use, 'sides the position I now have ain't really one they had planned on. Patent officer. I get the privledge of approving everyone elses' inventions and am forbidden to submit any of my own so there ain't no conflict of interest." That *should* crush him, right? Yet he's grinning like an idiot as he settles his optics on Torque. "You look grea-... oh, there it is!: Wheeljack snatches something off his desk. A nut? He holds it out towards you. "Finger please." The instant Torque sees the makeshift tie and lenseless glasses, she has to bite her lips to keep from laughing out loud. "What on Cybertron are you wearing?" She snickers and steps forward to reach up and gently take the frames from his face. "They don't even have lenses, silly. ..Though they don't look half bad, I'll admit." They gave him that.. handsomely smart appearance. Is that even a word? Well it is now! But her amusement falters when he talks about Sparkplug, a soft frown growing. "Why do you keep listening to that jerk? I swear, you're some kinda mech to take it like you do.." A hand raises to rest against the side of his face, but she's forced to pause at the sight of the nut he holds out. "Uh..." Her face is blank and a little confused. What's he planning...? Well, whatever it is, she's curious, so Torque tries to at least humor him and holds her hand to him with fingers splayed. Wheeljack has to look like he forgets what he has on. "Oh, these?" He should explain, shouldn't he. "While on technoversity grounds I gotta' have these on. They don't have lenses 'cause the ain't for seein'l but recordin'. They stream a feed of everythin' I look at, so 'Plug can keep an eye on what I'm eyein'. Which right now is *you*," he notes with a grin. This comes as Torque touches his face, which feels great, so he doesn't mind being all smiles. "It's a good view to have," he says confidently. He goes on though! "This," he means the tie, "Is an audio recorder so that 'Plug also gets to hear everythin' I might say. Which ain't his faut. Don't hate him for it. It's more that he got stuck with *me*. See, legal can't set me loose so they put him in charge of lookin' over me. It ain't so bad." Says the mech who is having everything he says and sees being recorded in detail. Wheeljack doesn't look down as he slides the nut... no, ring!... onto Torque's finger. "I was hopin' you'd say 'yes' if I asked ya' an important question." "I'm gonna need to have a talk with these mechs at some point, won't I?" Torque smiles thoughtfully and promptly removes the glasses and tie before he can stop her. "I don't think Sparkplug'll mind you turning these off for a little while, though. At least while I'm here." She doesn't need another mech knowing what goes on in Wheeljack's personal life, so Sparkplug will have to learn to deal with it. Placing the items on the desk, the medic turns back to see him slipping the makeshift ring onto one of her fingers before talking about a question. ..Oh dear Primus. If.. Is he talking about what she thinks he's talking about? Torque promptly stiffens at the thought with optics wide and cheeks already aglow as a hue of violet blooms on them and her sparkbeat increases. "What.. What sort of question..?" Torque forces herself to stammer out and meet his gaze with almost sparkling, amber optics. Is this really happening..? A look of panic sweeps over Wheeljack and Torque undresses him! Oh my! He suddenly feels very naked and exposed with his glasses and tie on the desk. This isn't supposed to happen! While on the grounds he has to have them on at all times! But then he's made a career out of being in trouble so... what, Sparkplug will get to yell at him some more? There's a shine to Jackie's cheeks as Torque very much takes charge of the situation! Primus, he'd follow her anywhere. He'd dive into lava so she wouldn't have to. Not that such thinking makes sense or that lava is even a thing, but as someone who has always chases his wildest thought it makes complete sense. "Yeeeeeeeah,"; he goofily smirks in agreement of her assessment as to what Sparkplug will have to deal with. He's also staring a lot more than he was a moment ago. Oh, right! What is he asking? Now without being watched or listened to, Jack holds up his hand to show that he is also wearing a ring too. "Give it a twist to activate it. See, we can all communicate with radio frequencies, right? Well, these should give a three dimension representation to that, only we'd be the only ones aware of it... or anyone with a ring. I thought we could give them to Nautica and Brainstorm too, maybe some others... see, what I thought would happen did with that rude copbot. They can't nail us for *thinkin'*... at least I don't think they can. So, if we keep it all in 'theoryspace' then it's all hypothetical! But if we can all construct in a perceived holographic work space then the potential is unlimited! Only problem with the rings is that I ain't been able to isolate the frequency they operate at from potential overheatin' meanin' if we use 'em too much they might melt our hands off but... it should work."; And just like that, Wheeljack succeeds in building up expectations before dashing them in a matter of seconds. Fortunately for him Torque doesn't appear the slightest bit angry or sad. No, she just smiles, nothing but warmth and thoughtfulness when shaking her head and leaning in to catch the scientist up in a tight hug. "Heh.. You're such a goof, Wheeljack." The femme mutters softly into the crook of his neck, relaxing in his arms should he reciprocate. It was so silly of her to think he was going to ask /that/. Heck, they still had so much to experience before getting to that point! "That's amazing, though. I swear, you keep coming up with even more ingenious stuff every day." Pulling from him now, Torque beams and gives the ring a twist to turn it on, all the while musing to him. "So was that what you wanted to ask me? To help you test these out?" Wheeljack is swept up! The hardest thing is to not lean into it *too* much because... oh, who is he kidding and why should he hold back? Wheeljack has never really known cruelty in his life, not yet but also he's never really been exposed to a lot of... anything. His mind is open, explosively imaginative but that's to things of SCIENCE and MORE SCIENCE. Emotion is something that's been very limited to him, mostly to curiosity and friendship. All of ... this... with Torque is new. Mindblowing. And Wheeljack has never known to use an ounce of caution in all of his existence. Why would he start now with this? He was in completely the moment he thought that he could. So he embraces Torque freely. Happily! "Thanks," he beams widely as praised. "I was thinkin' of ways we could keep in touch, or if you got in trouble that you could reach me... since you like to get into that," he says rather freely. He's not judging! He *likes* that Torque is confident enough to do those things. He certainly doesn't want her to stop, rather, he wishes he could support it. Oh, right! He was going to ask something before he went off in excitement to explain his new invention. He twists his own ring to activate it. Overlaced over himself then, to you now, is a greenish holographic form of himself. that stands there. In real time he stands there but in 'theoryspace' he steps forward and finally asks his question. --I don't remember ever being taught anythin' about the whole conjunx endura process. You know how we'd go 'bout that?-- "What can I say, I'm an adventurous femme." Torque grins and chuckles softly. "This'll an interesting lay to conversations, though. It'll be like you're in the room!" Which is awesome. Why just technically talk on the phone when you could visually see that person right in front of you, even when they're far away? It truly is genious. And now she experiences it first hand, watching as he holographic self steps away from his body to join her own that now stands there. It's such an odd sensation.. But it's new and it's interesting and.. Wait, what? Out of his whole question, which pretty much flows right over her, the only two to stick are conjunx and endura. On cue, her mind explodes in a swarm of thoughts, buzzing around her mind like an active hive. All she can really bring herself to do right now is stare at him, both in reality and theoryspace. He can't be serious. --C.. Conjunx endura?-- Unable to speak, she defaults to radioing through the theoryspace. In reality, Torque has to set a hand on the desk to keep herself from falling over. Her face is bright as ever with pooling energon, though the rest of her body language denotes a withdrawl, an uncertainty. --Wheeljack, are.. are you sure? I mean I.. I wouldn't say no, but.. do you really think I'm conjunx material?-- Sure she was sweet, but for Primus' sake, she fought mechs in an illegal fighting ring. She was rough, tough, and by no means femme-like. She prefered being coated in grease from a hard day's work than be shiny and clean. Frag, she was stronger than most mechs she knew! Is she someone Wheeljack could really see himself with..? In reality, Wheeljack is there as Torque reaches for the desk. It's a little slow, a little clumsy but he means to help keep her upright. Did he do something wrong with her ring? Has it damaged her in some way. He looks her over, visibly worried. "Everythin' alright? No malfunctions?" Whatever threatens to take Torque off her feet has to be a mighty force indeed! ... or perhaps some accident of his. Theoryspace Jack looks, well, confident. --But you would say 'no'?-- Not that is is or would fault her. It's not like he has a promising career or even potential at one to offer. He's goofy and weird, he knows that. He doesn't really understand these feelings things he has but is willing to rush into them. He gets it. He knows his faults. But he's just as sure of them as he is about Torque's strengths. --I'm an engineer, Torque. What I do is build. I know what goes into somethin' to make it work. You... you make me work. Better. What we can build together is worth everythin'.-- Theoryspace Jack is also there, seeking to support Theoryspace Torque, but with less concern and more of an effort to draw her to *him* for a holo-embrace. --You're solid,-- he smiles. It's how he's described her to every mech that's ever brought her up. To him it makes complete sense. She'ls strong, durable; the greatest of material for foundations. From her - everything gets better, and more secure. 'Solid' to him, for her, is the same as beauty. as purpose. It sounds dumpy, maybe, and odd, but this is Jack. He doesn't know a form that love should take other than 'solid'. Reality Torque doesn't respond. She's too lost in her head to even face the world right now. Sure, there've been a lot of mechs who've admired her in the past, but none of them have gotten to this point.. Conjunx Endura.. True, she hasn't spent as much time with Wheeljack as she would have liked, but no matter how many angles she tries to look at this situation, how many times she tries to see a fault, there's just.. nothing. There's absolutely nothing she can find that would stop her, other than the fact that it's so sudden. ..But you know what? Why should she care? Torque has never backed down from a challenge and she's not about to start now. The mental embrace brings her out of her thoughts to see his holoform hold her own. And while it's nice ,it's just.. not what she wants. No, she wants to see him for real. No holograms or illusions. Nothing seperating them. With a gentle touch she regains enough of herself to reach out and twist the rings off, allowing her to focus entirely on the real mech before her now. And he'll see her with nothing but the brightest of smiles and a growing shimmer growing beneath her optics as a sprung leak runs the risk of spilling over. Hands lift to cup both sides of his face and to bring him near, allowing her to press her forehead to his and close her optics for a moment. "You big goof..." Torque mutters past strained vocals that try to keep emotions from driving over the edge. Her spark hurts so much, feeling like it'll burst out of her chest from how hard it beats, but she just can't stop smiling. "If I'm solid then you're... unconventional. You're so unpredictable. So.. unrestrained and unable to have anything tether you down, even in your own head. It can be scary, not knowing what's gonna happen next, but... also exciting." Optics open to view him as smile turns warm, caring, and thoughtful. "What I'm trying to say is.. I'm eager to see what comes next. And I wanna see it with you." Fingers lace with his own, holding tight and by no means intending to let go. It may be sudden, but it's going to be an interesting adventure, that much she's certain of. Oh no, she's about to leak! He can fix that... That's his first thought as she, well, takes him. He hears the strain in her voice and the mechanic in him wants to patch that up. Yet... there's something very new to him in that. A part of him feels relieved to *hear* that, to know that she's maybe feeling the same thing he is. Maybe he's *not* so weird for feeling these things. Wheeljack is used to being odd and misunderstood. That's been his whole life. That strain... it's validation. What he hoped might well be true; that she - Torque - feels the same as he does. Jack struggles a little as he's held to turn off his ring as well, to join Torque fully in the moment. After, he fumbles a little, unfamiliar with what to do with his hands. She has his face and he doesn't want to get in the way. So he rests them on her hips. He looks at her. Optic to optic. He has to smile because in all this crazy mess and the irregularities his spark experiencing he is sure of one thing. Then hands with hands! That is so much better and he squeezes... with a bit more strength than he realized he had. This is a moment to hold onto. "I'm not scared." Not in the slightest. It could be scary but... it's so very not.